1. At the conclusion of chapter 1, Rawlirigs says: "A mark was on [Jody] from the day's delight so that all his life, when April was a thin green and the flavor of rain was on his tongue, an old wound would throb and a nostalgia would fill him for something he could not quite remember." What does she mean? How does this opening statement foreshadow the outcome of the book?

2. Ma and Penny Baxter have very different attitudes toward animals. How do their opinions differ, and why? How is this difference indicative of their contrasting attitudes about life in general?

3. Why are Penny and Jody so attracted to the sinkhole?

4. Why is Jody resentful of Oliver Hutto and the Forresters? Is this a justified bitterness? How does this resentment bear on his concept of a friend's duty?

6. When Fodder-wing dies, the Forresters and Jody are...